The biggest show on earth made an astonishing comeback on Sunday as North Korea put on its all-singing, all-dancing propaganda display, the “Mass Games,” for the first time in five years.
Months in the preparation, the show featured tens of thousands of performers under the curved arches of the May Day Stadium, enacting scenes from Korean history and modern life against an ever-changing and unique backdrop.
It was made up of 17,490 children turning the colored pages of books in sequence to create giant images rippling across one side of the stadium — an analogue version, on a giant scale, of a usually digital solution.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
Many scenes had well over 1,000 people on stage, and Guinness World Records lists a 2007 performance of the previous version of the Mass Games, known as Arirang, as the world’s largest gymnastic display, with 100,090 participants.
In keeping with the nuclear-armed North’s efforts to minimize militaristic elements of the celebrations — it did not put ICBMs on show at a military parade earlier on Sunday — the themes focused on development and prosperity, and even a Korean War section made no overt reference to the US.
The commitment required from participants is enormous. Former performers say they trained from 9am to 6pm every day for several months ahead of the performances, bringing their school or university studies to a halt.
Photo: AP
照片:美聯社
(AFP)
全球最大的表演活動上週日以令人驚奇之姿捲土重來──睽違五年,北韓首度用全體歌唱和全員舞蹈的演出方式,舉辦稱為「團體操」的政治宣傳展演。
歷經數月籌備,這場演出由數以萬計的表演者參與。在五一體育場的拱狀結構底下,表演者在持續變換的獨特背景幕前,重現出韓國歷史場景與現代生活片段。
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
其中一項演出由一萬七千四百九十名兒童組成,他們依序翻開道具書的彩色頁面,創造出巨大的圖像,在體育館的一整面蕩漾著波浪──藉由巨大的演出規模,呈現出通常必須運用數位科技才能達到的「類比版本」。
許多場景都由遠遠超過一千名的表演者在舞台上完成。金氏世界紀錄將二○○七年演出的前一個「團體操」版本──被稱為「阿里郎節」──列為世界最大型體操節目,參與者多達十萬零九十人。
擁有核武的北韓此回致力將慶典的軍國主義元素最小化──該國在週日稍早的閱兵典禮中並未展示出洲際彈道飛彈──為了呈現出一致性,團體操的主題也聚焦於發展與繁榮,甚至連韓戰的演出片段都沒有出現對美國的明顯指涉。
這場表演需要參與者龐大的決心與毅力才得以完成。先前的演出人員表示,他們在正式表演的數個月前就開始訓練,每天從早上九點練到傍晚六點,他們的學業因此中斷。
(台北時報章厚明譯)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
It’s another school day with the same ritual. You wake up to your smartphone’s alarm, scroll through messages during your commute, and listen to your favorite playlist with your wireless earbuds between classes. These devices, integrated smoothly into your daily routine, certainly make life more convenient. However, where do these devices end up after you replace them? In fact, the issue of electronic waste is a growing global concern. According to the United Nations, in 2019 alone, we generated an astonishing 53.6 million tons of e-waste—an average of 7.3kg per person. Projections hint at the figure soaring to 110